Tigress
Tigress is the unofficial leader of the Furious Five and the main supporting characters of the'' Kung Fu Panda'' franchise. She is the supporting character of Kung Fu Panda, the deuteragonist of Kung Fu Panda 2 and the tritagonist of Kung Fu Panda 3. She is the master of the Tiger style of Kung Fu. Appearance Personality Tigress is the strongest and boldest of the Furious Five. She is noted to have the typical qualities of a hero: overachieving, brave, fearless, and willing to do anything to save the day. The one exception to her willingness, however, was to believe in Po, whom she thought was a joke. But even the strongest can be wrong, and Tigress learned that destiny sometimes arrives in unexpected ways. Since the events of the first film, she has been unwaveringly loyal to Po and what he represents as the Dragon Warrior. But underneath her stoic, iron-jawed exterior is a warm compassion that others seldom see. She is generally friendly, but the least sociable of the Five, and can be very intimidating at times due to her incredibly serious and direct demeanour. In many scenes of the first film in which the other four of the Furious Five and/or Po were joking or having fun, Tigress would often remain quiet and withdrawn. At the time, it was strongly believed, by Shifu and herself, that Oogway was about to choose her as the Dragon Warrior before Po's entrance, despite Oogway's statements. As a result, Tigress bitterly resented Po for thwarting her dream, and was the most vocal of the Five in her contempt for the panda and his perceived lack of respect for kung fu, even while her comrades grew to respect him, due to perhaps still believing she was the Dragon Warrior. When she was a young cub, Tigress had trouble controlling her violent temper. Shifu had helped teach her how to control this temper since then, but she still occasionally loses control. This is shown during the first film while she was telling Po about Shifu's past with Tai Lung and herself, as she had mistaken Po's sudden facial expression into thinking that he was making fun of her. She then reacted by pulling back her paw and unsheathing her claws, having every intention on striking him, but Mantis stopped her before she could do so while confessing that he accidentally hit his facial nerve with one of his acupuncture needles, to which she pulls back. However, Tigress does possess a "soft side", particularly towards children in some instances. This is shown near the end of the first film where she politely helped some young villagers evacuate the Valley, and in Kung Fu Panda Holiday, where Tigress playfully helped to feed a young toddler piglet during the Winter Feast. Tigress appears to have sustained a more calm and content attitude since the events of the first film and in the holiday special, she is seen to behave in a kinder and friendlier way as demonstrated when she and the rest of the Five help Po with his difficulties in preparing for the Winter Feast. However, in "Kung Fu Day Care", Tigress said she does not like children when a small child named Zan is taken for ransom by the Croc Bandits and takes a particular liking to her when he is saved by her and Po. She was assigned to be his guardian by Shifu for this reason, and was very reluctant to do so. In the end, once she remembered how she felt and what Shifu did for her as a child, she felt bittersweet when he went back home with his mother, and promised to visit him. Tigress is also not without insecurities as a result of years of training under the initially stern and mostly withdrawn Shifu, whom she calls the closest thing to a father she has ever had. Consequentially, both Kung Fu and her master's approval form a very large part of Tigress' self worth, which both the films and series occasionally imply she struggles with. In the first film, as she recalls in a flashback how Shifu has never loved anyone like he loved Tai Lung, young Tigress lands a strong blow on the training doll, only to have her posture silently corrected by a glaring Shifu. As she looks after him sadly, the scene fades into the now adult Tigress, still baring the same sad look for a moment before covering it up with her usual severity. Also, in The Spirit Orbs of Master Ding, Tigress is unable to cope with the idea that Po is becoming better than her in every way that is important to her, since she does not know how to do much else besides kung fu. After Shifu complements Po, Tigress' jealousy finally gets the better of her and causes her to act recklessly, becoming the catalyst for the events of the episode. Before Po's arrival, Tigress was the only member of the Furious Five who was completely serious and stoic, although her humourlessness in the first film could also be attributed to her anger at Po for accidentally crushing her dream. However, after Po is accepted by, and begins to really integrate with the Five, his general levity seems to cause Tigress to lighten up and become more playful. In the credits of the first film, she is seen toying affectionately withe the panda training doll, similar to a cat with a ball of wool, in between savaging it. She is also seen copying Po's imitation of Shifu, this time to her master's face, who seems to enjoy her impression immensely. In the TV series, though still retaining her characteristically serious attitude, she often shown to have a dry and sarcastic sense of humour, and often appreciates, and very occasionally participates in, the jokes and pranks that Po and the Five play on each other. A recurring joke is her making a comment that the others take for a joke, only to ask what they mean when they comment on it. For example, when observing Shifu practicing his deathly dull speech for the Moon Festival, Tigress remarks that she will start practicing sleeping with her eye open and is clueless when Monkey laughs. Also, in Sight for Sore Eyes, Viper says that everyone except Tigress is smiling, but Tigress says that she is smiling, since her "happy face" matches her generic expression. Role in the Crossover Relationships Fantasy Wind Po Ping Hua Mulan Flik Red Buster Moon Lightning McQueen Mater Princess Sofia Boog Elliot Soren Blu Aladar Mia Thermopolis Clara Stahlbaum Magic Lover Clark Medina Leah Olivar Sam Kazuko Kevin Sebastian Chichay Tampipi Joaquin Manansala Serena Marchesa Tenten Ibarra Eva Mapendo Inno Cortes Heroes of the World Optimus Prime Bumblebee William Lennox Cade Yeager Viviane Wembly Owen Grady Claire Dearing Lara Croft The Big Four Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Jack Frost Merida DunBroch Rapunzel Corona Category:Kung Fu Panda Category:Kung Fu Panda Characters Category:Characters Category:Protagonists Category:Animals Category:Tigers Category:Anthropomorphic Category:Tertiary Characters Category:Animated Characters